Early morning in Greenwich ...... before even the birds were awake

Now I like my sister’s picture of Greenwich taken last week before the milkman started his round or even the birds were awake.

It captures that stillness that you get at that time in the morning when little stirs but there is already the promise of another busy day.

And that sky is something else.

Now I would say this I know, but our Gillian, Elizabeth and Theresa are a talented bunch and I look forward to more of their pictures.

Location; Greenwich

Picture; early morning, 2017, one of six, from the collection of Jillian Goldsmith

Now Mr Dante would be intrigued

This is Florence, and it is one of those shots that everyone takes from the tourist bus.

Florence from a far, 2014

As such it has nothing to do with Manchester other than that Dante Alighieri was born in Florence and the Societa’ Dante Alighieri has a branch in our city.*

“It was established in 1996, and the Manchester branch is one of the Society’s many branches around the world.

The Society’s headquarters are in Rome, and its mission is to promote the Italian language and Italian culture abroad.

The picture everyone takes, 2014

Membership is open to both Italians and non-Italians, and members and supporters enjoy a wide programme of events throughout the year.

Members and non-members alike are welcome to attend.”*

And that is the lead in to this event they are hosting during October and it  is the film Johnny Stecchino which will be showing at The Town Hall Tavern on Sunday October 22, 2017 – 3.45pm for 4.00pm.        

Johnny Stecchino was made in 1991 by Roberto Benigni.  It is In Italian with English subtitles  and is a witty, highly entertaining, and clever film which ridicules the Mafia.**

So if you fancy the film or want to know more about the Dante Society, just follow the link and make contact.

We joined in the summer and I have to say they are a friendly bunch and we got to do some fun things and learned a bit.

The one they don't take, 2014

And that I reckon id just what it should all be about.

And there are lots more things hosted by them during the course of the year.

I am tempted to mention the meal, but instead I shall just let you go looking for the the event on their web site.

You might also fancy catching up on what they did in the summer during Manchester Day which is both informative and a piece of outrageous self promotion on my part.

And I hope the Society and Mr Dante will approve.

Location; Manchester

Pictures; Florence in 2014, from the collection of Andrew Simpson

And just a gentle reminder if you want to see the film let the Society know so they can arrange a seat for you.




*The Societa’ Dante Alighieri, https://dantemanchester.org.uk/

**The Town Hall Tavern, 20 Tib Lane (off Cross Street), Manchester M2 4JA
 Admission FREE – drinks and/or snacks can be ordered and paid for at the bar.

Manchester Day ............ catching the attractions, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/2017/06/manchester-day-catching-attractions.html

An aplogy for a night out in Withington and Didsbury

I am not over keen on these compilation postcards, mainly I suppose because a lot of the detail is lost but they had the virtue of offering the recipient a good mix of Chorlton images and with perhaps one exception all of them are still familiar today.

For me its real value is the message on the reverse which neatly sums up the attractiveness of the postcard to the people of the period.  It was sent at 10 in the morning as way of an apology for not coming over from Chorlton to Ardwick the night before because  had “gone to Withington and Didsbury.”

Now with equally frequent deliveries as well as collections, Miss McCale of Stockport Road would have read the card with its apology before tea time if not after her mid day meal.

Although there is one detail which makes the card just a bit more interesting and that is the name given to the last image, but that is for you to spot and correct.

Picture; from the Lloyd collection

Views from around Victoria Bridge ........ the road is open

We will all have our own special bridge across the river that takes you from Salford into Manchester.

I will stand on the fence and just say I like them all, from the old Victorian ones to those exciting swirling footbridges which seem to keep popping up.

That said I do like Victoria Bridge, because it affords pretty impressive views of the new developments on both sides of the water.

Now whatever you think of those new developments they are going up a pace, and while I miss the earlier Victorian and Edwardian ones, some of these had pretty much had their day.

And it is also worth noting that the Victorians showed scant regard for what had been there before.

So here is the first of Andy Robertson’s new series on Views from Victoria Bridge,

Location; Salford

Picture; Greengate and beyond, 2017 from the collection of Andy Robertson

Chorlton Brook, meadowland and a winters day

Chorlton Brook can seem a pleasant and benign bit of water.

Come across it on a warm summer’s day as it flows under the Brookburn Bridge and it looks pretty peaceful.

And when the children were young it was a favourite walk of ours, following its course past “secret pathways” and on to where it joins the Mersey.

Of course all the land on either side has changed dramatically and what you see now is a product of tipping and landscaping.

My friend David often rails against the policy of tree planting that has been undertaken over the years.

After all, everything you can see from the Brook to the river was until recently farmed as meadow land.*

Meadowland is grassland that is kept damp by the use of ditches called carriers worked by sluice gates fed from a river.

The skill is to keep the land fed with water up to an inch in depth through from October to January, for about fifteen to twenty days at a time before allowing the water to run off into the drainage ditches.

The land must then be left to dry out for 5-6 days so that the air can get to the grass.  The early watering took advantage of the autumnal floods which brought with them a mix of nutrients and silt which enriched the land.

In 1845 there were 680 acres of meadow and pasture compared to 490 arable acres and 10 of woodland.

But all of that has gone, and now pretty much the only reminder of what went on is the Brook and even that has changed.

So here are two of Andy Robertson’s picture taken sometime in the 1990s when the brook was in full flow.

Pictures; from the collection of Andy Robertson

*Remembering the meadows in the 1940s ..... the power of oral testimony, http://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/remembering-meadows-in-1940s-power-of.html

You have to laugh ....... comedy from the Great War No. 5 .... Two dinners on one plate

A short series show casing comic picture postcards from the Great War.

Picture; from the collection of David Harrop

My old Nokia and what we have lost

My old Nokia

It was so long ago that I can’t even remember which Nokia model this was, but it was my first mobile phone. 

I don’t count the brick I briefly rented around 1994, it was very heavy not easy to use and really at the time there were few people I wanted to contact using it.

And in the two decades since I haven’t moved much further.  I briefly tried a smart phone but discovered I wasn’t smart enough to use it and went back to the company to ask for a down grade, to a phone which just allows you to call people, send texts and play snake with a battery which doesn’t run out by lunch time and which if you drop it just bounces on the floor.

So not for me the magic of sending emails receiving the latest news and buying online I will stick with a machine that is as antiquated as the wireless and the telegram.

Both of which are now history, pretty much along with the picture postcard and the telephone box.

Once the picture postcard reigned supreme.

The old Post Office

A card sent in the morning could be expected to arrive in the afternoon allowing you to alert the family that you would be home from holiday later that day or just arrange to meet for tea.

Now if you can find a picture postcard it will cost an arm and leg to send it and it may take an age to arrive.

In much the same way I doubt that it is as easy to find a telephone kiosk.

Back in the early days of competition with Mercury BT were putting them up all over the place, and now they are disappearing in the same way as they arrived.

Of course there are still plenty around but like the 161 from Woolwich they no longer appear in bunches.

Time I think to go recording them.

Pictures; a cherished first Nokia from the collection of Andrew Simpson, and and the Post Office we have lost , courtesy of Jean Gammons